


like a glass to drink from

by ywhiterain



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Road Trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 21:29:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10369854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ywhiterain/pseuds/ywhiterain
Summary: Set directly after 4x06. After Stefan and Elena break up, Rebekah and Stefan go on a road trip and grow as people.





	

**Author's Note:**

> AU from 4x06. I started writing it right after that episode. Four years later, and I finally finished it! Title stolen from Tattle Tale's Glass Vase Cello Case.

Stefan and Elena sat next to each other in silence for hours on her porch. It wasn't the first time they'd broken up but felt like the last. Elena was a fractured image of the woman he'd loved and he wasn't going to be part of however she decided put herself back together, human or not.

It was dark when he stood up and began to walk away from her. For the final time. Because, this time, she let him go without a whisper of a protest. 

He didn't know how to feel.

-

Stefan stared at a blank page of notebook paper on his desk and tried to think of a way to say goodbye. He thought about being cruel and mention a coin toss and a deal in a note to his brother. He thought about telling Elena he was sorry and hoped she would find a way to be happy. He thought about addressing it to both Elena and Damon and telling them both why he had to go. He thought about asking everyone to make sure to take care of themselves. 

In the end, he wrote _see you later, Stefan_ and left it on Damon's bed.

It was a lie.

-

Stefan kept Rebekah in a box in the attic of the Boarding House and, for some unfathomable reason, Klaus let him. There was nothing stopping him from taking her so figured he might as well.

After all, she knew how to run.

-

Stefan took the stake out of Rebekah in Ohio. 

They were in a forest and when Rebekah woke up, grabbed his neck and shoved him against a tree. She leaned in, her face shifting as she snarled. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right this instant."

Stefan was well aware he had none. He was pretty sure the only part of him that wanted to live died with Elena in the river. But he still spoke. "I broke up with Elena."

It shocked her. She fell back. He didn't run away and rip apart the first human unlucky enough to cross his path. He didn't slide to the ground and cry. He didn't fall down and die. He just stood still and watched her as she stood still and watched him back.

She spoke first. "You wanted a life with her."

Stefan shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It fell through." He closed the distance between them and set a hand on her arm, above her elbow. "I passed a boutique you'd like."

"Why should I care?"

"There's a dance at a nearby high school we could crash. We'd need some new clothes," Stefan said. He cocked his eyebrows and grinned. "I happen to be feeling a little reckless. How about you?"

-

The memories of being with Rebekah were still fresh, like only a few months had passed since he'd been with her instead of nearly a century. Her hands slid comfortably on his hips and the small of her back felt good under the palms of his. They swayed together in easy an sync of old friends despite the cold silence between them. 

Stefan body was a memory of a time when he'd enjoyed dancing.

-

After the dance, the two of them walked through the streets of a suburb like awkward teenagers on their first date until they passed an _Reelect Obama!_ sign.

Rebekah paused so Stefan did as well. She was smiling in a way that made her look like a gentle seventeen-year-old girl with a life ahead of her. "I voted in the first election that women could participate in, you know." Stefan didn't have any memories besides blood, death and never ending hunger during the time of women's suffrage. "Nik said I was being stupid." 

She jerked around. On instinct, Stefan reached out in order to cup her face. 

"Klaus doesn't understand what it means to live," he said, brushing his thumb down her face, "that doesn't make _you_ stupid."

Rebekah pushed him away. "I can always tell when you're lying."

Stefan dropped his hands to his sides as he took a step back. "I was being sincere."

"Of course you were," Rebekah said, her heals echoing loudly on the sidewalk as she stormed through the peaceful neighborhood, "If only to take a shot at my stupid brother." She said nothing else as she scanned the area and he followed her.

When they found a vacant house, she strolled inside. She didn't slam the door in his face so he entered behind her. She plopped down on the dirty floor and he leaned against the wall. He rose an eyebrow at the dirt staining her perfectly tailored white dress. "Elijah wouldn't approve."

"Screw him," Rebekah spat out and Stefan found himself breathing easier. "He left, like he always does."

"Is that why you decided to follow me?"

Rebekah snorted. "You never lead anyone, Stefan."

Stefan nodded and Rebekah patted the floor next to her and he found himself sitting down next to her. 

"When you told me about the cure," Rebekah said as looked at him in the eyes. Rebekah had never been a coward. "You were telling the truth. You wanted to be with Elena. As humans."

"I couldn't deceive you unless I was honest about something," Stefan said.

"So why did you break up with her?" she asked, following his gaze as he looked past her.

"Why don't you kill me?" Stefan countered. 

Rebekah rose her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. "What purpose would it serve?"

"A little violence always puts you in a good mood," Stefan said as he rested back on his elbows and looked up at the ceiling, "and I've certainly earned it from you."

Rebekah stood up. "I'm tired. I'm going to see if there's somewhere decent to sleep."

He watched her walk up the stairs before falling on his back and turning to his side. He closed his eyes and thought of Damon and Elena.

-

Losing Damon and Elena to one another used to terrify him in a way he had no idea how to articulate. Agony would mold with his skin and he would curl up uselessly as Elena touched his face and declared that she loved _Stefan._ Later, with Klaus, the thought of them together made it easier for him to kill and turn around to face his latest monster. When he got his freedom back, he had no idea what he should want. All he did know is that he didn't want the person Damon chose over him this time to be _Elena._

As Stefan tried to sleep, he pulled emotions to the surface. Betrayal. Rage. Loss. Grief. Anger. Even happiness for them (that, he knew, is what he should want to feel). But none of them seemed to fit.

When _relief_ tapped the surface of his mind, his entire body slumped. It was almost like he was comfortable in his own skin. And he was able to fall asleep.

-

"I'm seriously considering killing you for wearing that thing," Rebekah said as Stefan tossed a stone into the lake before them.

"Give my body to Klaus," Stefan said as he walked across the beach and picked up some more rocks, "tell him to consider it a gift from an old friend."

"I wish I had a time machine so I could kill whoever thought flannel was a good idea," she continued, as if he hadn't said anything. He threw another rock into the water. She knocked the rocks out of his hand and set her hands on her hips. "Couldn't you at least get blue flannel? Orange doesn't suit you."

"If you hadn't looked so horrified when I picked it out I wouldn't have stolen it," Stefan said, not bothering to hide his grin.

"Ass," she said and she smiled a little before frowning. Then she slid down on the ground and looked forward. "I miss Nik." She closed her eyes and her face relaxed. "I miss my _brother_. Not what he made himself into." She pushed some hair behind her ear and looked up and at Stefan. "I suppose that sounds ridiculous."

"No," Stefan said and dropped down a few feet away from where she was sitting. He looked down. "It makes perfect sense." He could feel her looking at him and he couldn't help but think about the story they told him. How Klaus had grabbed and shouted at her after her lover had killed her. She'd been vulnerable, confused and scared and Klaus had terrorized her instead of helping her. In a thousand years, that much hadn't really changed between the two of them. And Stefan had used that against her.

He took a deep breath and looked at her. "I get," he said and licked his lips, "I get why you keep going back to Klaus." Unlike her, he was a coward, so he looked down. "My brother has the same playbook as yours." He pulled his legs to his chest. "It's one reason I was drawn to Klaus in the '20s."

Elena would prod him with gentle hands and a firm tone to continue to open up to her. Rebekah just scooted a little closer to him.

He felt completely alone.

-

"We should leave tomorrow," Rebekah said as she walked out of the bathroom of their hotel room wearing blue _My Little Pony_ pajamas he'd pointed out to her as a joke. "Go to a city. I don't want to spend anymore time in a small town."

"Wherever you want to go is fine with me," Stefan said. Then, he added, as if he'd just thought of it, "Klaus will want to find us."

She rested on the bed across from his. "Somewhere in the Midwest," she said, "Kansas or Arizona. Somewhere without his bloody poetry." She rolled over on her stomach and gave him a wicked grin. "Klaus was never good at hiding. He's too obvious. Elijah and I are the only reasons he didn't get caught."

"Damon has always been able to find me when he wanted to," Stefan said and added with a slight hesitation, "and there's Bonnie." At the moment, Bonnie couldn't access her magic, but Stefan knew it'd only be a matter of time before she was able to. 

"Keeping Damon from finding us won't be a problem," Rebekah said, rolling her eyes. It was nice to be around someone who didn't see Damon as any kind of threat. 

"And Bonnie?" Stefan asked and felt guilty, thinking about how she'd cried in his arms just a few weeks ago. Now he'd up and left without a word. He really wasn't a drop by kind of guy.

"Don't worry about that," Rebekah said, "I know where to find something to keep us hidden from magic." Stefan rose his eyebrows. "My mother was a witch. I know how to protect myself from them."

She rolled over on her side, turning her back to him.

He swallowed down his questions and decided Ester would not be a subject he would bring up.

-

"Here," Rebekah said, tossing him a pendent on a leather strip. "It's protection from tracking magic." As he put it around his neck, she slid into the passengers seat of the car and Stefan got into the driver's seat. "Elijah has some hidden all around the world."

Stefan was reminded uncomfortably of Katherine. 

They drove in silence for about fifteen minutes. Then Rebekah began to search her purse. "Where's my phone?"

"I burned it with mine," Stefan said, "if I'm going to get caught, it's not going to be because of GPS."

If looks could kill, he would have fallen dead on the steering wheel at the glare she gave him. "I had pictures in that phone."

"You should have backed them up," Stefan said with a shrug and then grunted when she shoved a wooden pencil into his shoulder. He took it out and threw it out the window.

"That's healing slowly," Rebekah said as she took a nail file out of her purse. "Are you back on your animal blood diet?"

"Did it really take you three days to realize you didn't have your phone?" Stefan asked instead of answering her question.

"In case you've forgotten, I've only been in the twenty first century for six months," Rebekah said and Stefan really hoped she didn't have any more pencils in her purse, "so excuse me for not being attached to the hip with it just yet."

"I'd hoped they were just a phase," Stefan said. He couldn't help but think of Lexi, who forced a bulky phone on him in 1988, insisting that they were here to stay and they'd change the world. As it often was, she had been right.

"When did you get anti-social?" Rebekah asked. "It's really not a good look on you."

"I'm a loner," Stefan said dryly, football uniforms and Elena's soft lips invading his mind as he made a sharp left turn.

-

"This is terrible whiskey," Rebekah said.

"Feel free not to drink anymore," Stefan said as he drained another shot in one go. Then, he made a face. Because it was terrible whiskey.

"You didn't used to drink this much," Rebekah said as she poured two more shots.

"Not with so many tasty humans around," Stefan said. He wished being drunk dulled the hunger more. "My brother is a terrible influence." He laughed. "I think he drinks more alcohol than blood these days."

"Nik would always tell me that a lady shouldn't drink so much," Rebekah said and grabbed a new bottle, opened it, and drained it in one go. Liquid poured down both sides of her mouth.

Stefan leaned over and wiped off the liquor from her face with the side of his thumb. He dried his hand with the shirt she was wearing. "He'd probably kill you for shopping at Walmart for this."

"I didn't shop," Rebekah said, "I _stole_. And if I still had my phone I'd send him pictures of the poor stitching on our clothes."

"Don't do that." Stefan fell back on his bed and tried not to laugh. "Damon would find us so he could strangle me."

From the corner of his eye, Stefan saw Rebekah get off the chair and walk over to him. The bed dipped as she sat down next to him. "Is he with Elena?"

"Probably," Stefan said. He lifted up his arm and twirled his hand into a circle. "I'm sure he's planning a spring wedding."

Rebekah grabbed his arm and pulled him up. She shoved a new bottle of whiskey into his hands. "You're not nearly drunk enough for this conversation."

"I'll never be drunk enough for this conversation," Stefan said. He took a long drink and then dropped it on the floor and watched with some satisfied amusement as the liquid stained the carpet.

"That was our last bottle," Rebekah said, her voice washing over him like a cold shower.

Stefan closed his eyes and dropped down onto the bed once more. "We should have stolen more."

Rebekah rested next to him and took hold of his hand. He tried not to cry. 

-

"We'll be staying here for awhile," Rebekah said as she sat down next to Stefan. They were on a balcony at a hotel. He watched her look down. They were twenty stories up. If they were still human, the people below would be nothing but a blur.

"Do you plan to go back to school?" Stefan asked and looked back down at the life below. He was starting to think that observation was as close to humanity as he'd ever get.

"I think I've had my fill of high school drama," Rebekah said. 

Stefan turned his full attention to a family eating at an outdoor cafe. Two sisters were kicking each other under the table and giggling madly as their mother scolded them. The father was braiding the hair of the youngest child while his hamburger was getting cold. Stefan thought of Elena and ached. He longed for the relief he'd felt a few nights before.

"Why did you love Elena?" Rebekah asked, startling Stefan out of his thoughts. He looked at her and she shrugged. "I just want to know."

"I still love her," Stefan said as he turned his attention to the people walking past his newest temporary home. "I owe her that. I owe her everything." 

"Then why did you break up with her?"

Rebekah had helped him kill a man in order to save Elena's life. She _envied_ what they'd had. Stefan looked away from the people and up at the evening sky. "Because I didn't want for her to be the one to have to say it."

"I have no idea what she sees in Damon," Rebekah said.

Stefan wished he could say the same. While he was at it, he also wished people would stop telling him he was the right choice. Stefan had been many things throughout his life, but _right_ was never one of them. Once more, he looked down. At nothing. "What do want to do now?"

"Anything but running," Rebekah said.

That was all they could do.

-

When Stefan spotted a crow while he and Rebekah were taking a walk in a park, he felt as if his world was crumbling around him once more. And he hadn't even had enough time to begin piece it back together from the last time it had shattered when Elena had said _I know._

"It's just a normal bird," Rebekah said, walking over to it. She set her hand on its head and its eyes glazed over. "Come here and touch it."

Stefan did. Then Rebekah knelt down just enough so that she was looking into its eyes. Stefan felt a chill that bit at the nerves in his fingertips. 

"Being a vampire is more than just blood," Rebekah said as she straightened up. The bird still felt like ice. "If you want to protect yourself, that's something you'll need to learn."

"I've never been good at other tricks," Stefan said. He'd also struggled with trying to find the switch - the most he had was the empty feeling of shallow glee when he gave into the blood lust or Klaus. He supposed killing was about the only part of being a vampire that he was good at.

"Rippers usually aren't," Rebekah said, "so busy with their killing. But you only need to know how to sense the presence of a vampire's seduction in order to run from it."

Stefan removed his hand from the crow and took a step back. The bird was still, like it was dead. He wasn't even sure if it was breathing. "It's like you're taking the life from it."

"That's because I am," Rebekah said, then she waved her hand and the bird flew away. "That's all that compulsion is."

"Killing," Stefan said.

Rebekah knelt down and plucked a flower. She rolled the stem between her fingers. "That's what vampirism is." She stood up and walked over to a nearby bench and sat down on it. Stefan followed her but did not sit down. "The only way to truly prevent death is to get rid of its antithesis."

Life.

-

Rebekah shoved the boy she'd just finished killing behind the a large tree. She turned around to face Stefan, who had just finished eating a second squirrel. "Are you done?"

"Almost," Stefan said and in the grave he'd dug before hunting, he rested the corpse of the second squirrel next to the first.

"You've become so sentimental," Rebekah said with a loud sigh as she folded her arms, "it's disgusting."

"I named them Greg and Lisa," Stefan said because he suddenly wanted nothing more than to hear his brother's exasperation at Stefan's rituals. 

After he was done burying the animals, he patted the ground and stood up. As he turned around, Rebekah said, "I've never tried animal blood."

"There's plenty around," Stefan said, waving his hand.

"I'd rather do this," Rebekah said and she rushed to him, shoved him against a tree, and licked up the drying blood from around his lips.

"What do you think?" Stefan asked, eyes lidded.

Rebekah pressed a leg between his. "Disgusting."

"That we can agree on," Stefan said.

"Then why do you drink it?" 

As she began to pull away, he grabbed her hips and pulled her closer. She let him. He leaned into her face and brushed his lips against her cheek like she'd done to him a dozen lifetimes ago. "I don't want to lose control."

"Sensible." She kissed him. It was so quick that he barely felt their lips touch before she pushed away from him. "But dull."

"It's better than the alternative," Stefan said. 

"Those are the only choices you have?" Rebekah asked.

Stefan remembered Caroline promising to help him. Running away meant giving that up. "For now."

-

"Do you still want to find the cure?" Rebekah asked a few days later. As she sat down on the couch next to him, Stefan turned off the rerun of _The Golden Girls_ he was watching with the remote control. "You said you still love Elena."

And she loved him for fighting to find the cure for her. "I probably should." He tilted his head so that he was looking at her in the eyes. "Do you want it?"

"I do," she said. She stared him down, as if he'd judge her. "It's the only way I can finally stop running."

"You want to live," Stefan said and turned back to the blank television. "It's hard to make any sort of life as a vampire, even if you aren't on the run." Before Klaus, before the curse, before Katherine, before too much blood and death weighed between them, Stefan had wanted nothing more than to build a life with Elena. He'd known it was impossible and she'd figured it out quickly enough herself.

But they'd still tried. 

"I'll help you find it."

"Thank you," Rebekah said, "but I want to know why." Stefan turned to her, confused. "You two aren't getting back together."

"I could never lie to you," Stefan said and waited for her to push for answers. She didn't. So he looked down at his hands. "Elena still wants the cure. Looking for it is the least I can do."

Then, Rebekah's hands were on top of his. "What do you want?"

Damon. "Nothing I can actually have."

As her fingers intertwined with his, it hit him. Rebekah still cared about him. Everything inside of him suddenly felt heavier. But, with her, maybe the weight wouldn't crush him. He curled his fingers around hers, strong and sure. 

-

Rebekah looked up from the laptop she had stolen from Best Buy and laughed. Stefan rose his eyebrow at her. "Israel is a nation again."

"Yeah," Stefan said. He smiled in spite of himself. 

"People speak Hebrew again," she said. She sounded breathless. "It's so different. I'm reading a blog about modern gardening in Hebrew and I can barely understand it. How did this happen?"

 _Genocide_ , Stefan did not say. World war two was not a conversation he wanted to have. He walked over to her so he could see what she was doing. Booking a flight for them. 

"I've always wanted to go the Holy Land. Alex mentioned it." She closed her computer and looked at him with old eyes "You know that I still love him."

"Yeah," Stefan said. "I do. I'd apologize - "

"And I still love you," Rebekah got off the bed and walked over to him. She ran her finger across his lips. "I'm good at falling in love. I've never figured out the falling out part."

"Rebekah," Stefan said. He set his hand on her wrist. "If our timing was just a little different, then I probably could say the same about you."

"I don't need your pity," Rebekah said.

She started to back away, but he tightened his grip and pulled her in. She let him. "Before your brother came to Mystic Falls, I planned to love Elena for the rest of her life."

"Her human life," Rebekah said. "Then you would have moved on. Maybe with someone else. She would have told you not to mourn her forever."

Stefan nodded.

"But now she's a vampire," Rebekah said. "And you're never going to move on."

Neither of them mentioned the cure. She backed away from him and fell back onto the bed. "We have to pass through London before getting to Tel Aviv."

"Rebekah - "

"It's an early flight," she said. "You should get some rest."

-

"It's so much cleaner these days," Rebekah said as she and Stefan walked down a street in London. "Europeans embracing soap again was a god send. I hated the Middle Ages."

Stefan shoved his hands into his pocket. "I always found that time period interesting." He caught her eyes and smiled. "It was a little dirty, sure, but if you dug deeply enough, there was a lot of beauty to be found."

She licked her lips. Moved a little closer to him. She was going to kiss him and he was going to let her. Then, she stiffened. "Elijah."

"Where?" Stefan asked, turning around, searching. 

She grabbed his wrist and pulled. A few minutes later they were miles away. Hidden in another forest. Running was all they could do. Stefan fell on his knees, breathing heavily - moving so fast took a lot out of him.

Rebekah set her hand on his shoulders. "I'm going to have to get you on human stuff soon."

Stefan looked up at her. She looked as broken as he felt. "Why did you run?"

"I'd rather not deal with him right now," Rebekah said

-

"Our flight isn't until tomorrow," Rebekah said as she dropped her bag on the hotel table.

"I know," Stefan said, nodded at said bag where she was still carrying her laptop, "I checked the tickets."

"Snoop," Rebekah said. "You could have just asked."

Instead of answering, shoved her on the bed. He crawled on top of her and before she could get out a word, he started to kiss her. He cupped her face with one hand and ran another down her side. Kissing back, she set her hands on the small of his back. She turned them over and pulled away.

"What are you doing?" Rebekah asked.

Stefan pushed some hair behind her ear. "What does it look like?"

Rebekah kissed his temple. "I'm not a fan of sleeping with men who are in love with other women."

"I don't see you getting off of me," Stefan said.

"Fair enough," Rebekah muttered and started to kiss him. 

-

Stefan walked out of the bathroom, toweling off his damp hair. He grabbed a shirt he'd left on the table.

Rebekah looked up from where she was on the bed and pouted. "Don't do that."

"What?" 

"That," she said as he began to button up the shirt he'd just put on.

"Did you really expect me to stand around half naked all day?" Stefan asked. 

"Prude," Rebekah said and ducked when he threw the used towel at her. "If you plan to start a fight, be warned: I'll win."

"I know," Stefan said and he moved over to her. He straddled her lap and nibbled on her earlobe for a moment before saying, "But it'd be fun to try."

"We have a plane to catch," Rebekah said. She set a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into a quick kiss. "And after last night, I'm not going to settle for a quickie."

"Sure about that?" Stefan asked. "You're holding on pretty tight."

She thought about it for a minute. "Yes." She pushed him away, gently. When he settled down on the bed next to her, she said, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Last night," Rebekah said. 

"What makes you think I did it for you?" Stefan asked.

"Because you're painfully obvious," Rebekah said. "You were trying to cheer me up." She let out a small laugh. "Even when you were a ripper, you were always so in tune with my feeling." She gave him a small smile. "I didn't fall in love with you for your good looks."

"Here I thought it was the relentless sadism," Stefan said.

"It didn't hurt," Rebekah said. "Shame I never got around to showing you how erotic fire can be."

"We have time," Stefan said. That's all they had.

"Elijah wouldn't approve," Rebekah said, "he always gets paranoid when I play with fire."

"Elijah?" Stefan asked carefully. "I thought you didn't want to see him."

"Changed my mind," Rebekah said. "Don't worry." She carded her fingers through his hair. "He'd never hurt someone I love. He's not Klaus." She got off the bed. "You don't happen to have his phone number memorized, do you?"

"Uh," Stefan said, "no." 

"Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way," Rebekah said. She turned to face him, eyes sparkling. "I have some tricks to teach you yet, Salvatore."

"I think I'll take a rain check on that," Stefan said.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Stefan. You have no need to fear Elijah."

"That's not it," Stefan said as he got off the bed. "I just don't want to get in the way." He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "It's been how many years since you've spent quality time with him?"

"Nearly a century," Rebekah said, sounding far away.

"You deserve some alone time with him," Stefan said. 

"And you deserve better than Damon," Rebekah said.

"What does Damon have to do with anything?" Stefan asked.

"I don't want you to go back to your monster," Rebekah said. "Damon is no better than Klaus. And I know the second you leave me, you'll turn back to him."

"I won't - "

"It's exactly what I'd do," Rebekah said. "I've spent my life devoted to a man who has done nothing but harm me. Don't make the same mistake." 

"I'll be okay," Stefan said as he pulled away from her. 

He only made it a few steps before she spoke, sounding small. "I'm terrified that I won't be." He turned around. She looked close to tears. "Elijah's going to want to go back to Klaus. I can't do that, not right now."

"Then tell him," Stefan said. He shook his head. "Do you know that Elijah spent decades trying to find a way to kill Klaus after he thought you and your brothers were dead?"

"But I'm alive," Rebekah said. "That may be enough for Elijah to forgive him."

"He hasn't gone back yet," Stefan said. "Losing you was enough for Elijah to turn his back on everything he valued. I have a feeling the last hundred years without you has been difficult for him."

"It's not the first time Klaus has stolen time from us," Rebekah said. 

"Elijah knows that and he still hasn't returned to Klaus," Stefan said, "Something's changed. Find out what it is." He moved to her, set cupped her face and kissed her hard. "Don't let fear stop you from going after what you want."

"If this blows up in my face, I'm going to make you suffer," Rebekah said. She gave him a sad smile. "Thank you."

"No problem," Stefan said. He lifted his head a notch. "I hope to see you again."

"Count on it," Rebekah said.

Stefan left.  
_

It took a few weeks, but Stefan found what he was looking for: a broken down bridge running over a body of water in a rural village. He jumped on the steadiest of what remained of it and looked down at his reflection in the water. 

Damon was a million miles away. With Elena.

Stefan couldn't save Elena from her bridge. He couldn't be what she needed. And he left her. He was another person for her to mourn. She didn't deserve that and he owed her more. But there were things he had to figure out. Without her, without Damon, without them. 

Elena might hate him for it, but she'd understand. Debt was not the only reason he loved her.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the sun.


End file.
